Recruited out of Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, Helfrich was offered an opportunity to walk on at the University of Oregon, however he decided to attend Southern Oregon instead,[1] where he was the starting quarterback from 1992-1995 and was a NAIA All-American.[2] Helfrich saw his most successful season in 1993 as he set school records for passing yards, touchdowns, and total offense.[3] In the winter and spring of 1997, he played quarterback professionally, while also serving as assistant offensive coordinator in Europe for the Vienna Austria Vikings.[4]

Initially starting graduate school with his sights set on becoming an orthopedic surgeon,[5] Helfrich's coaching career ignited at Oregon as a graduate assistant working closely under then offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter.[6] When Koetter was hired as head coach at Boise State in 1998, the 24-year-old Helfrich went with him as the quarterbacks coach.[7]

At Boise State Helfrich coached Broncos quarterback Bart Hendricks. Under Helfrich's development, Hendricks won Big West Conference Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000 and guided the Broncos to the fourth best passing offense in the nation in 2000.[8]

Helfrich followed Koetter to Arizona State when Koetter became the head coach of the Sun Devils. Under the coaching of Helfrich, Andrew Walter broke nearly every Arizona State passing record and John Elway's Pac-10 touchdown record.[9] Walter would go on to be drafted in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

Dirk Koetter would later praise Helfrich for his coaching abilities, "He can do it all in his head. He doesn't have to draw the pictures on the board (…) not many people can do that. He sees the game through the quarterback's eyes. We all have ideas, but if your quarterback can't execute those ideas, they are lines on a paper. Mark is as smart a football guy as I know."[7]

In 2006 Helfrich joined the Colorado staff to become the youngest offensive coordinator in college football on the BCS level at the age of 32.[10] His three seasons at Colorado were a challenge as he developed the Buffaloes dismal offense into a modest improvement.[9] Despite the offense struggling and being poorly ranked nationally, Helfrich was on Oregon's radar after the 2008 season.

Initially, after the 2006 season Mike Bellotti contacted Helfrich about possibly joining Oregon before Chip Kelly was hired in 2007, but Helfrich declined to leave Colorado after only one season.[11] Two years later, Helfrich was named Oregon's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on April 30, 2009, replacing Chip Kelly's position as he had been promoted to head coach.[4]

During Helfrich's four seasons as Oregon's offensive coordinator the offense produced tremendous success, ranked highly nationally in several offensive categories and became well known for their extremely fast-paced offense built around speed. Although Chip Kelly called the plays on offense, Helfrich still played an integral role in Oregon's system.[12] He had a large amount of involvement in the game planning, scripting, and coaching on a weekly basis while having a high amount of input in what plays are called and why they are called.[13]

Kelly spoke highly of his protégé, "He's really, really smart and has great people skills. Sometimes, smart people can't get their point across, but he's a great communicator. When I hire people, I want to hire very, very smart people. I wanted somebody who came from a different system. I didn't want a yes-man. I wanted someone who would bring new ideas to our system."[5]

With Helfrich coordinating under the philosophy of innovative spread offense guru Chip Kelly, the Ducks played in four straight BCS bowls from 2009 to 2012, won three straight Pac-12 Conference championships,[14] and continuously energized college football with one of the nation's best offenses in scoring, rushing, and total offense in each of those four seasons. As offensive coordinator during the Kelly era, the offense averaged 44.7 points per game with an average of 283.4 rushing yards and an average of 500.7 yards of total offense. In 2012 Oregon's offense was hailed as its best ever[15] as they averaged 49.6 points per game with an average of 537.4 yards of total offense with 315.2 of those yards per game from rushing.[16]

As quarterbacks coach, Helfrich was instrumental in the development of the quarterbacks that played under his tutelage at Oregon. In 2009, Jeremiah Masoli's leadership improved as he led Oregon to the 2010 Rose Bowl. The following season sophomore Darron Thomas guided an undefeated Oregon team to the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. Thomas finished his career 23-3 as a starter with a school-record 66 touchdown passes[17] and led the Ducks to a 45-38 victory over #10 Wisconsin in the 2012 Rose Bowl. The 2012 season showcased Marcus Mariota as the first freshman to start a season opener for the Ducks in 22 seasons.[18] He led the Ducks to a 12-1 record while being named All-Pac-12 Conference First Team,[19] Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year,[19] and winning the 2013 Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP Award as he guided the Ducks to a 35-17 victory over #5 Kansas State.[20]

Helfrich was recognized for his impact on the Ducks' offensive success as he was named by FootballScoop as its National Quarterbacks Coach of the Year in 2010[21] and 2012,[22] in addition to being one of three finalists as its national offensive coordinator of the year honor.[4]

Rumors of Chip Kelly departing college football for the NFL were constant during his tenure as Oregon's coach. Kelly refused to accept the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offer as head coach weeks after the 2012 Rose Bowl victory because he couldn't get a promise from Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens assuring him that Mark Helfrich would be his successor.[23] When Kelly began to interview for numerous NFL head coaching positions after Oregon's 2013 Fiesta Bowl victory, it was rumored that a succession plan was put into place for Helfrich to be the next head coach of the Ducks if Kelly were to ever leave.[24] On January 16, 2013, Chip Kelly left Oregon to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.[25] Due to an Oregon state law requiring public universities to interview at least one minority candidate for head-coaching positions, the succession plan became complicated.[26]

On January 20, 2013, Helfrich, after speculation and anticipation, accepted the offer from the University of Oregon to become the head coach of the Ducks.[4] As the successor to Chip Kelly, Helfrich's promotion continued an Oregon tradition. He is the third consecutive Oregon offensive coordinator promoted to head coach. Before Kelly replaced Mike Bellotti in 2009, Bellotti succeeded Rich Brooks in 1995.[27] Since Brooks' hire in 1977, Helfrich is just the fourth head coach at Oregon.[28]

“

Because of the foundation laid by Rich Brooks, Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and the incredible support of Phil Knight and his family and Pat Kilkenny and his family, the Oregon athletic family, this place is known among the nation as elite for many reasons. There’s so many reasons why this is a special place to me, it’s how we play, it’s our fans support, it’s our world-class facilities and the international reputation of this University.

In his first season as head coach, Helfrich had the difficult task of trying to emerge from the shadow of Chip Kelly. Despite finishing the season with an 11-2 record and a top-ten final season ranking, Helfrich's first season leading the Ducks was considered by some to be a letdown. Losses to #6 Stanford and unranked Arizona (Oregon's first loss to an unranked opponent since 2008) kept the Ducks from reaching a BCS Bowl berth for the first time in five seasons. Helfrich did however lead his team to a victory over Texas in the 2013 Alamo Bowl, beating the Longhorns 30-7 in Mack Brown's final game as head coach. In addition, the Ducks offense set a school record for total offense in a season with 7,345 yards.

Oregon's week two matchup versus #7 Michigan State was hyped by national media outlets as college football's non-conference game of the year. After giving up 27 unanswered points to the Spartans, the Ducks would respond and score 28 unanswered points of their own to defeat Michigan State 46-27, ending the defending Big-Ten and Rose Bowl-champion Spartans 11-game winning streak. Oregon's dominance provided a statement win for Helfrich and it propelled Oregon to the #2 ranking going into week three. While Oregon lost to the Arizona Wildcats for the second season in a row, they were nominated for the Rose Bowl where Oregon justified that #2 ranking by beating the former champion, the Florida State Seminoles, going forward to the CFP National Championship against the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was announced on February 9, 2015 that Coach Helfrich had signed an 5 year extension worth 17.5 Million.

Helfrich was raised about two hours from Eugene in Coos Bay, Oregon. As a child he would toss the football in Autzen Stadium after games, dreaming of someday playing for the Ducks. While playing quarterback at Marshfield High School, he was recruited by Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti to walk on at Oregon. Both his father and uncle played football for the Ducks and his brother and mother went to school at Oregon as well. The first Oregon native to become head coach of the Ducks since 1942,[29] Helfrich describes coaching at the University of Oregon as being the pinnacle of his career.[30] He and his wife Megan have two children.[31]